Once Upon a time: Cooking … Baking … Traveling … Laughing …

Before I tell you how much I messed this bread, let me tell you why I will be baking this bread all summer long when tomatoes are in season.
This has got to be incredible bread with the likes of Black Beauty Tomatoes and the like that’s why Vivian Howard named it Elbow Lick Sandwich.

Below you’ll see how I caramelize onions in the crockpot whenever I need them. I made this bread toward the end of November in Michigan when the temperatures were freezing at night … My current understanding of what happened is that set on LOW outside where the temperature dropped to 33, the crockpot overheated attempting to compensate and my onions were burned black by morning. Onions outside in the crockpot on LOW during daytime temperatures in the mid 40s did just fine. Really, I’ve never ‘burned’ anything in the crockpot till then.

Elizabeth is to thank for bringing this bread to our table. This has been a really really fun learning experience bread with lots of back and forth between BBBs.

To say we loved this bread is an understatement.

I baked this bread twice as a long thinner than usual loaf. The second time measurements were basically the same adding about 1/4 cup extra flour both times. The biggest difference was the second time I allowed for extra rising time at all stages and baked it for 20 minutes longer. I believe the excess moisture was due to the thickness of the loaf shape. This summer when I bake this as a round with a hole in the middle, thinner and flatter, I think this will be spectacular.

1. EVENING OF THE DAY BEFORE MAKING THE BREAD: Put the starter (or active dry yeast, if you’re using that) and water into a smallish bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon. Use the wooden spoon to stir the flour in well. Cover the bowl with a plate and set aside overnight in the oven with only the light turned on. This is the leavener.

EVENING OF THE DAY BEFORE MAKING THE BREAD: Preheat oven to 400F. Cut the ends off of the sweet potato and place it whole on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until tender. This should take about 45 minutes. Vivian Howard wrote the following: Once you start to smell them, probably after about 45 minutes, give the potatoes a look. My mom always looked for a little of their juice to have leached out and caramelized, but that is more romantic than necessary. When the potatoes are done, their skins should have separated slightly from their flesh and they should pierce easily with a knife or fork.

2. Slice the baked sweet potato in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh out into a bowl. Mash well. Cover the bowl with a plate and set aside in a cool place until the next morning. (Keep the skins to make Vivian Howard’s arugula salad with shaved parmesan and sweet potato skins, or sweet potato skins with tahini dressing!! – Port City Daily, “Vivian Howard shares creative sweet potato recipes while in Wilmington”: arugula salad with shaved parmesan and sweet potato skins (around 0:35 on the video), sweet potato skins with tahini dressing (1:48 on the video) Links to the recipes are listed below the video.)

3. EVENING OF THE DAY BEFORE MAKING THE BREAD: Heat oil for onions in a cast iron pan. Add the onions and salt and caramelize the onions over medium heat until they are golden brown. Vivian Howard says this will take 30-40 minutes. Set aside in a cool place until the next morning.

***Alternate method I used: Once upon a time, I made Thomas Keller’s French Onion Soup … WOW! I actually followed his heating directions and stood at the stove top stirring and watching like a hawk for hours, really hours. That soup was good, far surpassing anything I’d ever had. No, I’ll never do that again. Now, my go to method is to caramelize onions in the crockpot. It seems I’ve always done this in the summer time and because Gorn hates the smell, I put them outside on a porch. It works like a charm.
Directions: Oil the pot. Slice thinly 6 large onions. Toss sliced onions with 3 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter. Fill Crockpot 3/4 full. Cover
Cook on LOW 10-11 hours.
Stir, leave lid ajar to allow evaporation of liquid and continue on LOW 3-5 hours depending on how dark you want them.

4. IN THE MORNING OF THE DAY YOU WILL BE MAKING THE BREAD:
When a small forkful of the leavener floats in a small bowl of room temperature water, you can go ahead and mix the dough. If the leavener does not float, stir in a little more whole wheat flour and water – even amounts by weight – cover with a plate and leave for about 30 minutes more. Chances are that it will now float. (If you have used active dry yeast, you can safely skip the floating test.)

Put flour, wheat germ, all but 18ml water, leavener, honey, sweet potato puree into a large mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon or dough whisk to mix these ingredients to make a rough dough.

Cover the bowl with a plate and leave on the counter for about 40 minutes. adding the salt: In a small bowl, whisk the salt into the final 18gm (18 ml) water. Pour the salt mixture over the dough. kneading: Use one of your hands to squoosh the salt and water into the dough; use the other hand to steady the bowl – this way you always have a clean hand. At first the dough might be a bit messy and seem like it’s coming apart. Persevere. Suddenly, it will seem more like dough than a horrible separated glop. Keep folding it over onto itself until it is relatively smooth. Cover with a plate and leave to rest for about 20 minutes. stretching and folding the dough and adding the onions.

Put a quarter of onions on top of the dough and turn it by folding the dough into the center. Let sit 20 minutes.
Repeat at 20 minute intervals until all the onions are in the dough. You’ll notice that after each time, the dough will feel significantly smoother. Cover with a plate and leave on the counter (or if the kitchen is cool like ours in winter and early spring, into the oven with only the light turned on). Once all the onions are added, leave the covered bowl in the oven – with only the light turned on – for a couple of hours to allow the dough to double.

(A good way to tell if the dough is reading to shape is to run your index finger under water, then poke a hole in the center of the dough. If the hole disappears immediately, the dough still need to rise. If there is a slight whooshing sound and the hole remains in place, the dough has probably over-risen. If the hole very very gradually begins to close, the dough is ready to shape. prepare the brot-form: Put rice flour into a brotform and distribute it as evenly as possible. (If you don’t have a brot-form, you can line a bowl, basket or sieve with parchment paper. You can also use a liberally rice floured tea towel (but then you have to deal with a floured tea towel once the bread is baked). If you do not have rice flour, you can use any other kind of flour.
Note that higher gluten level make it significantly more difficult for the bread to be released from the basket…. pre-shaping: Scatter a dusting of wheat flour on the board and gently place the dough on the flour. Using wet hands, stretch the dough into a longish rectangle, then fold it like a letter, gently patting off any extra flour that might be there. Continue folding until the dough is shaped in a ball. Cover with a clean tea towel and let the ball rest for about 20 minutes. shaping: Without breaking the skin, tighten the ball further. Place it seam side UP in the well floured (rice) brot-form. Sprinkle the reserved bran evenly over the top of the bread. Loosely wrap the shaped loaf with a clean tea towel and enclose the whole thing inside a plastic bag and leave it in the oven with only the light turned on for 3 or 4 hours (until it has about doubled and there are bubbles).

5. Please note that Vivian Howard shapes her bread into rounds with holes in the center: Shape [the dough] into a round. Let [it] rest for 10 minutes. […]Line [a baking sheet] with parchment and dust with flour. Stick your finger through the center of [the dough ball]. […] Stretch it slightly to form a little hole. Transfer that dough round to the baking sheet and continue to carefully stretch the center into a 3-inch hole. Your bread round at this point will look like a giant flat doughnut.” – Vivian Howard, Deep Run Roots, Chapter 14: Sweet Potato | Sweet Potato Onion Bread baking: To know when it’s time to bake, run your index finger under water and gently but firmly press it on the side of the bread. If the dough springs back immediately, recover the bread with the plastic bag and leave it in the oven with only the light turned on. If the dough gradually returns back after being pressed, for the round loaf, put combo cooker (or a cast-iron frying pan and stainless steel bowl) into the oven and preheat all to 400F. When the oven is preheated about fifteen minutes later, put a square of parchment paper on the counter (the paper should be large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the frying pan). Overturn the shaped bread onto the parchment paper (the bran covered part will now be on the bottom). Using a lame (or scissors, or serrated knife), score the bread. Take the pan and bowl out of the oven (wear oven mitts!!) and place the frying pan on the stove (to prevent burning your countertop…). Transfer the bread to the middle of the frying pan and immediately put the lid of the combo-cooker (or stainless steel bowl) overtop like a hat. Put everything into the oven on the middle rack and immediately turn the oven down to 375F. Bake for 40-50 minutes in all, removing the hat half-way through baking. Turn the oven down to 350F when you remove the hat. The bread is done when the crust is a deep golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. cooling: When the bread has finished baking, remove it from the pan and allow it to cool on a footed rack before slicing and eating; the bread is still cooking internally when first removed from the oven! If you wish to serve warm bread (of course you do), reheat it after it has cooled completely: To reheat any uncut bread, turn the oven to 400F for 5 minutes or so. Turn the oven OFF. Put the bread into the hot oven for about ten minutes. This will rejuvenate the crust and warm the crumb perfectly. At the beginning of the recipe for “Sweet Potato Onion Bread, Vivian Howard wrote: This stuff is special-chewy with deep flavor and a dark crust. If you want a sandwich that will make you cry tears of joy, make the Elbow-Lick Tomato Sandwich – Vivian Howard, Deep Run Roots | Chapter 14: Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potato Onion Bread, p321 ~~~~ I knew this was it-the bread, the mayo, even the halfhearted tomatoes. I scarfed that sandwich down like a wild animal. Tomato juice mingled with smoked mayo and vinegary onions dripped down my arm all the way to my elbow. I licked my arms and did my best to lick my elbow. Licked the palm of my hand and imagined how unimaginable it would be with juicy, ripe Cherokee Purples. – Vivian Howard, Deep Run Roots | Chapter 12: Tomatoes, Elbow-Lick Tomato Sandwich, p260

Yes, you want to bake this bread! Check out Elizabeth’s post and all the BBB’s who baked this one. It’s a learning experience and such great bread.

From Elizabeth’s Blog, really a wonderful read and many more photos than I have:

We know you’ll want to make this bread! To receive a Baking Buddy Badge to display on your site: make Elbow-lick Sandwich Bread in the next couple of weeks and post about it (we love to see how your bread turns out AND hear what you think about it – what you didn’t like and/or what you liked) before the 29 January 2019.

Here’s how to let us know:

email me
» Remember to include your name and a link to your post
» Please type “BBB January 2019 bread” in the subject heading

Please note that it’s not enough to post about your bread in the Facebook group. Because of the ephemeral nature of Facebook’s posts, your FB post may be lost in the shuffle. Please email if you want to be included.

If you don’t have a blog or flickr-like account, no problem; we still want to see and hear about your bread! Please email me with the details, so your walnut bread can be included in the roundup too.

For complete details about this month’s recipe, the BBB and how to become a BBBuddy, please read:

These were fun and easy to put together. We enjoyed them, friends thought they were excellent. The sugar is perfect in these, not over the top sweet but still a treat.

Pat from “Feeding My Enthusiasms” found and adapted this from a recipe by Robert Jorin, of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, NY
The spice is perfect and the cherries were excellent. The grandkids would think these were fabulous and they could participate.
For my part, this is not the way I would want to use my sugar calories so I probably won’t make them again. Besides, since I grew up with my Dad’s fresh fried yeast doughnuts, not much else comes even remotely close. I am glad to have baked them so I thank you Pat.

1. In a medium bowl, cover currants – or diced dried fruit of your choice – with hot water and let stand until softened, 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir yeast with 2 tablespoons warm water and a pinch of sugar and let stand until foamy, 5 minutes.
I have not done this for years. I simply add the yeast to the flour and the liquid all at once.

3. In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook, combine flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon with 1/4 cup of sugar. Add milk, egg, egg yolk and half of softened butter; beat at low speed for 3 minutes. Beat in yeast mixture, then add salt. Beat dough at medium speed until soft and silky, about 8 minutes; the dough should pull cleanly away from bowl.
My KitchenAid mixer is still packed and I believe in the shed. I didn’t really have any problem mixing this by hand. I did add extra flour before it became a silken dough.

5. Drain Michigan dried cherries in my case, pressing out any excess water. Add to dough and beat in at low speed.

6. Transfer dough to a greased bowl, turn to coat dough with grease. Cover and let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 hour. Punch dough down, form into a ball, and return to bowl. Cover and let stand until billowy, 1 hour.

7. Grease two large baking sheets. (Or line with parchment or foil.) Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface & cut it into 12 equal pieces. Pinch each piece into a ball and arrange six balls on each prepared baking sheet, smooth side up. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 10 minutes.

8. Using lightly floured hands, press each ball into a flat 4-inch disc. Using a 1 1/4-inch round cutter stamp out center of each disc. Return holes to baking sheets. There will be six donuts and six donut holes on each sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 hour, until risen slightly.

9. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position racks in upper and lower thirds. Bake donuts and holes for 25 minutes, shifting pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking time. Donuts are done when they are golden and puffy and when the internal temperature at thickest part registers 200 degrees F.

10. Spread sugar in a shallow bowl. Brush hot donuts and holes on both sides with melted butter and dredge them in sugar. Transfer to a serving dish and serve at once.

And yes I used the crunchy sparkling sugar! that is worth the WOW.

Hope that you enjoy these between now and December 29th…which will get here sooner than you think. If you do, send Pat an email at plachman at sonic dot net along with a photo and your baking experience and she’ll include you in the Buddy post, plus send you a gorgeous Buddy Badge designed by Elizabeth.

I am once again bowled over! Once again I am humbled. Steamed bread just never seemed very appealing. These were ridiculously easy and good. I went super simple with the dinner plan, BBQ poached chicken: brown the chicken (pound of thighs, pound of breast), poach in chicken broth and Stubb’s BBQ sauce, remove chicken pieces, boiled liquid to thicken slightly, shred chicken, return to the sauce. WOW these were great. Gorn kept thanking me for a wonderful dinner.
Disregarding all guidance, Gorn split these and toasted several to enjoy with eggs for breakfast. Good all over again!
Thank you Karen! Below are my changes to Karen’s recipe. Check out Karen’s site Karen’s Kitchen Stories for her details, links to World Bread Day and all the other Babes Buns for all our craziness.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the water, and mix with spoon. Add the oil, and knead until smooth. The dough should not stick to the sides of the bowl. I did this easily by hand.

Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled (30 minutes to 2 hours).

I lined the bottom of steamer with lettuce leaves (the purpose is to keep the buns from sticking to the steamer).

Deflate the dough and divide it into 10 equal pieces (mine were about 45 to 48 grams each). Give each piece a quick knead.

On a floured surface roll the dough out into a 3 inch by 6 inch rectangle with rounded edges. Fold the dough in half lengthwise, and place on a parchment square. Cover lightly with oiled plastic wrap or a damp towel, and repeat with the rest of the dough pieces. Let proof for 30 to 45 minutes, until slightly puffy.

Bring a pot or wok of water to a steady boil (just slightly more than simmering) and fit your pan or wok with a steamer, bamboo basket, or steaming rack just above the water. Place the baos in the steamer, cover, and steam for 12 minutes. Cool slightly, fill with a filling of your choice, and eat.

You can refrigerate or freeze (I prefer freezing) leftovers. You can either thaw and re steam for 3 minutes, or wrap one in a damp paper towel and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds. Or split and toast as Gorn did.

I confess. These didn’t immediately excite me but they are bread and a Babe should bake.
And then for me the magic took over. I just do enjoy the magic of the yeast and flour and water.
My intent when I divided the dough was to shape half in traditional fashion as a log and half as crescents … but the crescent was so easy I did them all that way. In retrospect, I think I might have enjoyed them more as a log: the outside would have gotten a uniform coating and maybe been more enjoyable with my coffee BUT these were marvelous even as crescents!Aparna, I thank you. These were really no trouble to make. The dough easy to work. Flexible enough to do well with a long rest in the fridge.
I think they would do equally well perhaps shaped and rested in the fridge overnight and then go into a hot oven in the morning. They would be company show stoppers for sure at any time.
And for the drama through poor reading … yes, I still have issues with reading.
Right well the best I can say is the smell communicated better than the reading and I was able to blow most of it off the brown sugar before I’d mixed it in. Aren’t we lucky to have … smell!

Filipino Spanish Bread Rolls

Recipe By: Aparna Balasubramanian
Yield: 16-24 rolls

For the Dough :

2 teaspoons active dried yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 teaspoon sugar

426 grams white whole wheat flour

75 grams Kumet flour

20 grams flax meal

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 eggs

For the Filling :

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon powder (optional)

For Coating :

A little milk

1 cup bread crumbs

1/3 cup brown sugar

Whisk together the flours, flax, yeast, sugar and salt.
Mix the milk, melted butter and eggs.
Mix the dry and wet together.
Then knead until you have a smooth and elastic dough. I found this easy to knead by hand. Firm dough.

Cover loosely and let the dough rest for about 2 to 3 hours or till it has doubled in volume.
It became obvious to me that life was not cooperating with these directions and the dough went into the fridge overnight.

I took the bowl out as soon as I was in the kitchen fixing coffee in the morning. That allowed the dough to warm up and it was ready to work 2 hours later. Press down the dough gently and divide the dough into two equal parts.

There are two ways of shaping Filipino Spanish Bread. One is to roll out each portion into a round and spread the filling over it.

Spread the filling before cutting.

Then cut each into 8 triangles like you would a pizza. Each triangle can then be rolled up croissant style.

The more traditional way is to shape each half of dough into a log and divide into eight equal parts. Roll each piece into roughly a 3- by 5-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and sugar (or cinnamon sugar if you prefer). Roll the piece like you would a jelly roll, starting from one corner and rolling towards the opposite corner.

One dough ball gave me 10 rolls, the other gave me 12. I did like the smaller size and would make smaller regardless of shape.

Alternately, roll each half the dough into a largish rectangle about 10” x 10”. Then brush the surface generously and completely with melted butter. Sprinkle half the breadcrums and the cinnamon and sugar mixture over this evenly. Now cut the dough into half from top to bottom. Again cut each half into 4 left to right. You will have 8 rectangles about 5″ x 3.3″

Which ever way you shape your Filipino Spanish Bread, place the pieces seam side down on a lined or greased baking sheet. Let the shaped rolls rise for 30 minutes.

Brush them with a little milk and sprinkle with more breadcrumbs and sugar. You can also roll the shaped dough in the breadcrumbs and sugar if you like.

Bake until golden brown at 190C (375 F) for about 15 to 20 minutes. Because I made the rolls with all whole wheat, they took 22 minutes to bake.
Cool on a rack.

We’d love for you to bake with us as a Bread Baking Buddy. Here’s how it works.

Bake this month’s bread using Aparna’s recipe and post it on your blog before the 28th of this month. Mention the Bread Baking Babes and link to her BBB post in your own post. Then e-mail her at aparna[AT]mydiversekitchen[DOT]com with your name and the link to the post, or leave a comment on her blog post with this information. She will include your bread in the Buddy round-up at the end of this month.

I do love combinations … but one should be much more careful when combining two recipes OR one should engage the brain much more than I did.
I aimed for whole grain and I got that by using a recipe I found in Peter Reinhart’s Bread Revolution. Sprouted Wheat Sweet Potato Brioche! Please be aware that the amounts and directions are my own. You will need to take a look at his book “Bread Revolution” for his recipe.

I should have known I was working with whole grains AND adding sweet potato was going to make this extra. BUT when I went to look for the baking time I looked at Judy’s recipe that used white flour … and went my merry way. It was way under-baked and still this was spectacular.

I’m going to let you check out Judy’s web site for the recipe she brought to us but I’ll show you the recipe as I did it here.

Since Gorn is an all time cherry lover, I made my filling cherry jam! I really cut the sugar. The Cherry Jam was so successful, I had to make it again the next day to put on the plain Brioche and just simple toast when the Brioche ran out.

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, salt and yeast.
Mix together the egg, egg yolks, sweet potato puree and the milk forming a soft dough.
I used my Dad’s old KitchenAid.
Use the dough hook and mix on medium low until the dough pulls from the sides of the bowl.

2. Cut the butter in 4 to 8 pieces. Add one at a time mixing on medium low speed. Watch for each piece to be fully incorporated before adding more.
The dough should now feel soft, tacky and supple. It should feel bouncy when patted. If very sticky add a little more flour.

3. Using a bowl scraper, transfer the dough to an oiled work counter.
Stretch and fold the dough over itself four times: once each from the top, bottom and each side.

4. Either oil the bowl to place the dough into or oil your hands and pat the dough all over and place it in a large bowl.
Allow the dough to rest on the counter 30 minutes covered (I use a shower cap).

5. 12 hours/overnight in the refigerator. After resting at room temperature for 30 minutes, place the bowl covered in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. The dough is best baked within two days because of the high yeast content.

6. Remove the dough for some time before you bake. Time in the refrigerator allows the whole grain to fully hydrate and cooling all that butter makes it easier to handle.
7. Coffee Cake shaping This was a trick for me. I had no spring form pan. The closest I could even remotely come to was an angle food cake pan. Somehow I managed to line the outer side of the pan with several pieces of parchment paper and anchored them with the removable bottom.

I used about 2/3 of my total dough for the coffee cake and made a small plain loaf with the remaining 1/3.

The coffee cake dough I divided into three approximately equal pieces, rolled each into a circle to fit the pan, gently poked and then stretched a hole in the middle and dropped it over the middle tube put cherry jam on that, two more layers of dough with cherry jam between each layer of dough.

8. Cover the pan with shower cap and allow to rise 90 to 120 minutes. Mine took the 120 minutes.

You love cherries! This is the one.

9. Reinhart says to bake loaves at 400° for 50 to 60 minutes.
I baked mine at 375° for 50 minutes. It was under-baked. I think next time I’d bake at 380° for 60 to 65 minutes, ideally I’d have my thermometer and look for an internal temp of 195°. The jam may make an accurate measurement difficult.

Notes:

This was so wonderful. Thank you Judy!

If you would like to bake along with us as a Buddy, send Judy a description of what you did and some photographs by August 29th, and it will publish in the Buddy Roundup and you’ll receive a Buddy Badge. Email is jahunt22 at gmail.com.

This is one of those times when I’m thinking negative and pulled up so short that I am ashamed of myself. Oh you of little faith. I do say a very big thank you Pat. I’d never have gotten to these without you!

NO DO NOT LICK YOUR SCREEN! get your skillet out and BAKE with us!

Singing Hinnies

Recipe By: Pat “Feeding My Enthusiasms” adapted and found on Laura Fitzpatrick’s blog Hello Eco Living
Yield: 8 depending on how large you make them

But, these have no yeast and don’t use the oven, heck, the recipe even reads like these are EASY.
Oh WAIT the recipe calls for maybe baking soda or not and gives no amount of milk just says enough to make a dough. Now that requires executive decision making.
Our Kitchen of the Month, Pat of Feeding My Enthusiasms, was being sly about a challenge with such vague directions but hey, a Babe should be able to handle that.
Pat’s recipe uses all purpose flour and I substituted some whole grain and Einkorn and of course added in my always ground flax. I added the 1/8 teaspoon baking soda because it’s second nature to me when I use buttermilk and anytime I’m given the chance, I’ll pick buttermilk. The approximate 1/2 cup buttermilk was perhaps a little more than needed and so I was liberal with dusting the counter when I patted the dough out.
We had these with a simple vegetable soup and I blush to say we ate 6 out of the 7 one evening and shared the biggest one with breakfast in the AM. Gorn wants more …
I would tend to call these Fatty Cuties as the Scots do just because they are so rich. These are gloriously tender and moist because of all the fat.
Future:
Any dried fruit would be a glorious variation on these. Cardamom would add a sweet note. AND herbs, this would seem to just beg for an herb and spice touch.

1. Sift the flour and baking powder (and baking soda if using) into a bowl. Rub in the fat (or cut in with pastry blender or two knives) and stir in the currants.

2. Add enough milk to make a dough. Roll out onto a floured tray or board and cut with scone or biscuit cutter into rounds of chosen size, usually about 3 inches wide. NOTE: use the 2nd largest biscut cutter.

3. Heat pan (griddle or cast iron skillet work well but so did my All Clad skillet) and lightly grease. Place scones onto griddle on a very low heat so that the scones can cook very slowly. Turn once and cook on other side. NOTE: my total time was probably 30 minutes on stove top. Next time cut smaller and make slightly thinner.
To check that they are cooked remove one of the scones and tap it gently – it should sound hollow. The top and bottom should be browned but not burnt.

4. Slice in half, butter and enjoy. These are also supposed to be good with strawberry jam. Frankly, butter is over kill … but good.

These are easy and the payoff is 10 times the effort! Go for it. Bake ‘um up. Check out Feeding My Enthusiasms.

If you’d like to become a Buddy and get one the beautiful badges that Elizabeth created (similar to the one above), just email Pat at plachman at sonic dot net with a photo and the URL of your post, plus a brief description of your experience making these. The deadline is July 29th. The post for the roundup about August 1.
Hope you will join us. We love to share …

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Cathy has been a great Kitchen of the Month with a wonderful bread but any time a Babe starts a recipe with “I do have a few ground rules…” Well, that sounds suspicious, I mean we all know Babes are always going to break the rules. Yes, we all know that. Thankfully, Cathy’s “rule” was one whose direction I’m always looking to push so her “at least 30% some type of whole wheat flour” was very easy to go with. In fact, my calling is always to use more whole grain than called for.
Did we like this bread? I think considering I made this bread twice within 8 days should probably tell you we loved this bread. I used rosemary and lemon zest. I’m pretty sure we’ll be baking this one again and I will be looking for ways to use that lemon zest and rosemary again. Heavenly aroma baking and heady when eating, rosemary and lemon zest is a heavenly combo.

BBB ~ Pain au Levain

Recipe By: Cathy (breadexperience) Adapted from From the Wood-Fired Oven by Richard Miscovich

Cathy: If you don’t have or don’t want to use a sourdough starter, you can make an overnight poolish. In that case, you will need to add a bit of yeast (about 2%) to the final dough.

Cathy: The total weight of the levain is 499. You are supposed to remove 45 grams of sourdough to keep as your starter for future use which would leave 454 grams of levain. If you choose to use all of the levain, just adjust the final dough accordingly.

Me: reading deficit here, missed that about keeping out 45 grams. I baked it all and both times used my rye sour dough starter as it was the only starter I had and it was ready to go.

Day 1: Evening – Mix the Levain or Poolish
Mix the water and starter together in a large bowl. Add in the flour and mix until completely hydrated. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 8 – 10 hours.

Day 2: Mix the Final Dough/Shape Loaves:
Pour the water over the levain and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon or whisk to disperse.
Whisk the flours together and add on top of the water/levain mixture. Hold the salt until after the autolyse.

Sprinkle the salt over the top and dissolve it with the 25 grams of water. Use your fingers to pinch the dough to incorporate the salt evenly throughout.
Cover and let the dough bulk ferment for 120 minutes. Stretch twice, every 40 minutes.

Divide the dough, pre-shape, and then allow it to rest (covered) for 20 minutes before final shaping to allow the dough structure to relax.
Shape the dough into an oval or round shape and place it seam-side up in a heavily floured, lined banneton basket or seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
My first bake: a loaf pan and the banneton. Second bake: used the banneton and a stainless steel bowl lined with T-towel. Proof for about 30 minutes at room temperature. I won’t use the loaf pan again. Nothing really wrong, the round shape but seemed a better fit.
Cover the loaves and place in the refrigerator to cold ferment overnight, 8 – 10 hours.

Day 3: Bake the Loaves
Place a baking stone or steel on the bottom shelf of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. for at least 45 minutes. If you plan to use steam, place a steam pan on the top shelf.
If you shape the loaf round, you could bake this in a bread cloche, a Dutch oven or a Dutch oven combo baker instead of using a baking stone.
When the oven is sufficiently preheated, remove the loaves from the refrigerator. Carefully invert the loaves from the banneton proofing baskets (if used) onto parchment paper or a heavily dusted peel. I’ve found that using a lined basket aids with this process. You just carefully peel it off after flipping it over onto the parchment.
Score the loaves in the pattern of your choice. Slide them onto the preheated baking stone or steel and bake for 35 – 45 minutes. A larger loaf will take longer.
Since I only had one banneton I used a stainless steel bowl, lined it with a well dusted T-towel, stabilized the towel around the top of the bowl with a rubber band. That didn’t give me the indents from a banneton but it gave me the shape and it worked easily.
On my second bake, I baked the banneton first and stainless bowl second as I only had one cast iron baker.

Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving. Since I used extra whole grain, I allowed mine to cool overnight.

As the host kitchen this month Cathy and all the Babes would love for you to bake along with us!

Just bake your version of this bread and post about it on your blog (by June 30th).

If you don’t have a blog, no worries, just post a photo in the Bread Baking Babes FB Group

Mention Bread Baking Babes with a link to the Kitchen of the Month, that’s Cathy of Bread Experience.

Then send an email to breadexperience (at) gmail (dotcom) with BBB June Pain au Levain, and Cathy will send you your Buddy badge to display on your blog.

Cathy will also do a roundup with a list of all the Bread Baking Buddies and showcase your breads.